Office



2 Sheets-Sheet 1,.

(No Model.)

J; 0. MORSE, Deed. J. 0. MORSE, Jr., administrator. `EXlfllIDINr TAP. No. 284,220.

Patented Sept. 4, 1883.

2 Shets--Sheet l2.

Patented Sept. 4, 1883.

J. o. MoRsB, Dead. '.I. 0. MORSE, Jr., administrator.

EXPANDING TAP.

al |i||| l (No Model.)

nl UNITED STATES.

' PATENT GEEICE,

JAMES o. MORSE,y OE ENGLEWOOD, NEW JERsEmJAMES o. MORSE, JR.,

IADMINISTRATOR OE SAID MORSE, DEOEASED.

i V EXPANDING TAP.

SPECIIEICA'JION` forming'part of Letters Patent No. 284,220, dated September 4, 1883.`

` Aptneauou measeltember 14,1882. (No model.)

To all whom/ may concern,.- i t i Be it known that I, JAMES O.MORSE, of

Englewood, in the county `of Bergen and State vIo of N ew 1J ersey, have invented certainnew and usefullmprovements in Expanding Taps, of which the `following is a description.` in such full7 clear, and exact terms aswill enable those 1 skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanyingldrawings, forming a part thereof. t e p The invention relates to taps for cutting in- `ternal screw-threads, and particularly to .that

class of taps the thread-cutti`ng dies of which are arrangedto expand and collapse; andthe new features of improvement are as follows; iirst, a cylindricalplunger, which is provided with transverse beveled grooves, and is arranged to operate upon the inner edges of the p thread-cuttingdies to retract and expand them; second, lubricating the cuttingdies froman axial orinteriorly-located duct in such manner that the outwardgfiow of the lubricant prevents chips or shavingsof metall orgrit of anykind from lodging between the the exterior of the shell A. C

movable parts of the tap; third, a cutoff connected with the devicevwhich supplies the lubricating material, and so operated as to stop the iiow of the lubricant when the cutting-dies are retracted; and, fourth, improved means for operating the plunger which expands and contracts' the cuttingdies, all `as hereinafter more f ully explained.

`In the accompanying draWings,Fig`ure y `dies represented as in central section; and

Fig. 4 is a cross-section on plane y y of Fig.

3. rlhe supply-pipe and cut-off device ofthe lubricating mechanism are omitted from the last three figures.V i

Referring to the gures of drawings more in detail, is the shell or body of the tap,y

`which at its lower end is radially mortised for the reception of the thread-cutting dies B.

Gis a threaded collar which screws upon This collar has an inwardly-projecting ange, C', which over- It isV a central section on the plane x xof Fig. 2.`

hangs the heads of the mortises for the cutting-dies sufficiently to form seats for the projections B upon the heels of the dies, and constitutes hinge-bearings-for the cutters, as it is upon these projections that the cutters-swing when being spread out or withdrawn.

D is a plunger `which has a longitudinal reciprocating movement in the central bore of the Stock. A bolt, D', passes through this plunger and the slots Af in the walls ofthe stock, and fastens the plunger to an external traveling ring, E. The traveling ring E is l provided with a groove, E', which admits the `bosses F on the bifurcated end of the shipping-lever F, andthis shipping-leveris pivotally. connected to the end of thefulcrumarm G', turning down from the anchor-ring G, ltting loosely in a groove in the body of the tap. It will be seen that by this arrangement of these parts depressing or elevating the shipping-lever raises or lowers the traveling ring, and with it the plunger, and that this longitudinal motion of the plunger is wholly independent of the circular motion of the tap l when in operation. When the plunger is at the upper limit of its throw, the thread-cutting dies are collapsed, as shown in Fig. 3, the notches `B2 on the inner edges thereof meshingy with the stock of the plungerv between the beveled l grooves D2. As the plunger descends, the walls lof the beveled grooves D`L bear against the inner edges of the beveled projections on the ldies and force the dies outwardly, and when the dies are fully expanded the inner edges gof these projections rest upon the cylindrical surface of the plunger, as seen in Fig: l. Dur- 4ling and near the end of the return-stroke of the plunger, as the correspondingly-shaped parts of the plunger and dies are in position `tomesh, the shoulders B3, projecting from the `upper ends of the dies, engage with the shoulder formed by the. upper groove inthe plunger, the further movement of which causes the dies to swing inwardly to a distance equal to the depth of the grooves therein.

H is a cap-plate fastened to thebody of the tap, and serving to close the ends of the diemortises and prevent the escape of lubricating material and the ingress of dirt or chips of metal; and it acts also `as a support for the lower ends of the dies, they being circularly chamfered, so as to bear upon the edge of this plate at any point of thearc through which they swing.

Attached to the plunger is a pipe, I, which conducts any suitable lubricating-fluid from a reservoir properly located and connected with such pipe to a centrally-located duct, J, from which radial ducts J distribute it to the mortises containing the cutters, upon the faces of which cutters it flows to their cutting-edges. By this arrangement the lubricant ows from within the tap outwardly, and thereby prevents the chips of metal from working in between the moving parts of the tap, which, if

not prevented, would not only clog such parts and impede their working, but cause them to become unnecessarily worn. The pipe I terminates in a piston-head, I', contained in a slide-valve, K, and since the pipe I partakes of the longitudinal movement of the plug, it will be seen that whenever the cutting-dies are expanded, and thereby ready for operation, the piston-head I will be below the port K and permit the lubricating material to feed to the cutters;l but when the cutters are collapsed for withdrawal from the work a supply of the lubricant is no longer needed, and accordingly lifting the plunger to collapse the dies for Withdrawalv will also move the piston-head over and close the port K, and thus stop the liiow of the lubricant.

When the tap is in operation, the pistonhead I turns freely in the valve K, which is provided with a suitable stuffing-chamber for preserving a tight joint. A pipe, K2, leading intothe side of the valve, is connected with a reservoir containing the lubricating material.

The advantages of this form of plunger and thread-cutting dies are, particularly, that by having two or more.beveled grooves in the plunger space is provided for the inward swing of the cutters without the necessity of coinl pletely withdrawing the plunger frombehind the dies, which also admits of a much shorter throw of the plunger than would be necessary were the same extent of wedge-shaped or conical surface all in one.- The bearing-surface afforded for the dies when expanded is parallel to the axis ofthe tap, as distinguished from a bevel or conical bearing, and hence the pressure and strain which the dies receive are transferred from one die to the opposite one, and` not to the mechanism which actuates the plunger or holds it in position, the plunger acting in this case, when the dies are expanded, simply as a block'to keep them expanded, and by Y having the swinging or hinge bearings of the dies upon their outer edges and the shoulders which engage with the plunger to retract them on their inner edgesconsiderable leverage is obtained, which facilitates their movement.

I do not confine myself to the use of the form of cut-oft1 for the lubricating device above described, as obviously other forms of valves can be made to serve the same purpose; nor do I restrict myself to the use of the lubricating device in any particular form of die-expanding taps, for manifestly this manner of lubricating the dies is applicable ,to other forms of taps, andit is not necessary in all cases that the lubricating device be attached to the plunger of a thread-cutting tap or the interiorly-located duct be through its axis, for such duct or conduit may be in the body of the tap and the lubricating mechanism attached thereto.

Although Ihave shown and described a tap f having a number 'of cutting-dies, it is plain that the improvements set forth herein are applicable to a tap having but a single die.

I am aware that conical or wedge-shaped of Swi ngin g thread-cutting dies and a plunger provided with grooves, the inclined walls of which bear against projections on the cuttingdies to expand such dies, said plunger being also provided with bearings, which are parallel to the axis thereof for said dies to rest upon when expanded.

2. The combination, in an expanding tap, of swinging thread-cutting dies and a plunger, said dies being provided with shoulders upon their inner edges, which are arranged to engage with a shoulder on the plunger for the purpose of withdrawing the dies, substantially as described.

3. In a thread-cutting tap, the combination of expansible-cutting-dies and a plunger for operating such dies, which is provided with an interiorly-located lubricatingduct, substantially as shown and described. p

4. The combination, in a tap, of expansible cutting-dies, a pipe or duct for conveying lubricant to such dies, and a cut-off for regulating the flow of the lubricant, which is automatically operated by connection with the devices which expand and retract said dies, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

JAMES O. MORSE.

Witnesses:

R. F. GAYLORD, SAMUEL P. BELL.

IOO

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